As an entrepreneurial business leader, you’re fully in control of the success and growth of your business. You wield the reins of your organisation’s destiny, and the choices you make significantly impact its trajectory.
But are you doing everything you can to create momentum? Are you among the 4% of business leaders who actually make time for strategic growth? Are you holding yourself accountable?
In this blog, we will guide you through the art and science of personal accountability in the realm of business growth, how to be more accountable in your day-to-day life so that you can set ambitious goals and have the discipline to stick to them.
Accountability – A Leader’s Commitment to Growth
In your role as a business leader, you know the tasks and actions that sap your energy and don’t create progress. You know that real business growth is more than just steering the ship; growth requires a strategic mindset and a commitment to accountability.
One of the fundamental challenges faced by leaders is finding the time to step back from the daily grind of the business and dedicating meaningful time to a more strategic approach for growth.
Only around 4% of business leaders actually make time for this, and it’s one of the differentiating factors of those who see consistent progress, and those who keep repeating the same month, quarter or year.
How To Hold Yourself Accountable
So how do you hold yourself to account, to keep up your growth momentum and focus more effort on those strategic tasks?
1. Prioritising Strategic Thinking
Effective leaders understand the importance of carving out time for strategic thinking, and it’s something that many business leaders struggle to do.
We know it can be hard to step away from the immediate demands of the day-to-day and allocate focussed periods to assess the overall direction of the business. It’s one of the main reasons we created the Ascentis Business Club, to allow our clients to find time to strategise about the future.
It could be a weekly strategy session, a monthly review, or quarterly planning retreats, like our business club – whatever the cadence, it’s a non-negotiable investment in the future.
2. Taking Accountability for Team Dynamics
A leader’s accountability extends beyond personal actions to the dynamics of their team.
Team collaboration, motivation, and alignment with the business’s growth objectives are vital to grow your business as a whole. Leaders must actively foster an environment where each team member understands their role in the larger picture and feels empowered to contribute meaningfully.
Furthermore, the more you know about your team members and how they work, the better you can work with them. This is why we offer DiSC profiling assessments as part of our service, so you and your team not only understand yourselves more effectively, but how best to work together.
3. Financial Efficiencies and Resource Optimisation
Accountability for business growth involves a meticulous examination of financial processes and resource allocation. It’s something we’re passionate about here at Ascentis.
We work with you to identify issues and opportunities to improve, to ensure that the financial ecosystem of your business is not only well-managed and efficient, but also strategically aligned with your growth goals.
This may involve identifying areas for cost savings, optimising workflows, and ensuring that resources are allocated where they can generate maximum impact.
We call this Financial Mastery, which is one of our four pillars of success. See a recent example of this in our case study.
4. Exploring New Business Avenues
Business leaders must be proactive in seeking and evaluating new areas of business that align with the company’s vision.
This includes staying abreast of industry trends, emerging markets, and innovative technologies. Or rethinking about how your product or service can impact the marketplace.
Taking accountability for growth means stepping out of the comfort zone, encouraging innovation, and being open to exploring new opportunities that could potentially reshape the trajectory of the business.
5. Delegating and Empowering
The most critical aspect of strategic leadership is the ability to delegate effectively.
Leaders need to trust their teams, empower them with responsibilities, and create a structure where decisions can be made at various levels.
This not only frees up your time for the strategic thinking we mentioned above, but also fosters a culture of accountability throughout your organisation.
Taking accountability for business growth is about more than hitting the targets you set for yourself, it’s a holistic commitment to taking control of steering your business toward sustained success.
By taking the time to think strategically, fostering a collaborative team culture, optimising financial processes, and exploring new business frontiers, you’re putting the work in to take your business to the next level, rather than repeating the actions you may have led to a plateau.
This level of accountability requires discipline, one of the hallmarks of leaders who don’t just manage businesses but truly lead them towards enduring growth.
Let’s not forget:
“We must suffer the pain of discipline, or the pain of regret” – Jim Rohn